It took four days before Wijk aan Zee
turned on its traditional charms for the cream of world chess, with cold winds
and rain descending on the Dutch seaside village. It's ideal weather to stay
indoors and play or watch chess, a view shared by the thousands of players and
fans who descend on Wijk aan Zee every January.

For the Grandmasters playing in one of the
world's elite Corus events inside the sports centre De Moriaan, the weather only
affects them on the short walk from their hotel near the beach to the playing
hall. Grandmasters arriving at 1.30pm each day for the games remove coats and
scarves in the cloak/coffee room adjacent to their playing area, before
entering the arena to face battalions of photographers.

Some players, such as Loek van Wely,
deliberately arrive late to avoid the photographers; "We should chip in and buy
Loek a watch," moans one local photographer after he was once again being
restricted to a few hurried snaps of the local hero by arbiters hurrying the
press out of the playing area after their allotted five minutes snapping time
had expired.

Certain players are obvious press
favourites, with 13-year-old Chinese star Hou Yifan attracting more attention
than the former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik.

Hou Yifan, of course, had become an instant
celebrity after her win over English Nigel Short in the third round. Short may
not be the player he once was - in all senses of the word - but it was
remarkable how many people had a glint in their eye as they reported this
result; the former world title challenger comprehensively outplayed.

Hou Yifan had been destined for stardom
since she moved with her mother from Jiangsu, a province near Shanghai, to the
national chess training centre in Beijing as a nine year old.

Accompanied by her second Yu Shaoteng, the
shy teenager later agreed to explain her win over Short for Chess Life Online
readers.

Corus B 2008White: Hou Yifan Black: N.Short

Opening: Ruy Lopez

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4
5.d4 Be7

Position after 5...Be7

"A surprise," said Hou. "I had never seen
this before."

"She doesn't know the old games so much,"
said Yu. "She's a 21st century girl."

6.Qe2 Nd6 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.dxe5 Nb7 9.c4

Why not 9.Nc3? "I am just playing moves,"
said Hou.

9...0-0 10.Nc3 Re8?! 11.Rd1 Bf8

"I have no idea what he is doing," admitted
Hou.

12.Bg5! f6 13.Bh4 g5

Position after 13...g5

Hou made a face when this move was
replayed. "She's saying ‘Is he joking?'" explained Dutch GM Peng, a former
number two woman in the world and an amused spectator to Hou's demonstration.

14.Bg3 d6 15.Ne4! Bg4 16.exf6 Bh5 17.Qe3

Position after 17.Qe3

Until now Hou had not been prepared to make
an assessment of the position but now she declared "This seems OK for me," - a
typical understatement since White is already winning.

After the game Short seemed in surprisingly
good humour, declaring that there was nothing to do apart from go out that
evening and get drunk.

The top tournament in Wijk aan Zee was
expected to be dominated by the three immediate past World Champions -
Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov - but so far the event
has gone anything but according to plan.

Topalov languishes at the tail of the
field, having dropped full points to Levon Aronian and Van Wely.

Anand could have joined him there after a
loss to Teimour Radjabov and a very narrow escape against Michael Adams.

Kramnik is faring somewhat better, though
his only win has been an unconvincing endgame grind against everyone's pick for
the wooden spoon, Pavel Eljanov.

The leaders are two players who have been
tipped as future World Champions. After each starting with 2.5/3, the leaders
met in the fourth round and an exciting struggle resulted.

Aronian was highly critical of this move -
"Your pieces are not well placed for this," he explained to a surprised
Carlsen. "If your knight was on b3 instead of e3, it would be a different
story."

16... fxe6 17.Nc4 Nd7 18.Ncd2

Carlsen, after considerable thought, has
come to the same conclusion as Aronian, that the knight belongs on b3. However
there is a tactical problem - not surprising given White's loss of time.

18...Nc5 19.Nb3 Nxb3 20.Qxb3 Rxf3!!

Position after 20...Rxf3!!

21.gxf3

"I originally thought I could take on e6,"
admitted Carlsen ruefully.

21...Nd4 22.Qd1 Qf8

Aronian spent a long time considering
22...Bg5 but after 23.Be3 Bf4 24.Bxf4 exf4 25.Rc1, threatening 26.Rc4, decided
that White had enough counterplay. "I thought this must be practically lost for
White but I didn't have enough time," said Aronian.

23.Kg2 Qf6 24.Be3 Rf8 25.Bxd4 exd4 26.e5!

Position after 26.e5!

Carlsen appeared quite proud of this move
only to be somewhat deflated by Aronian's comment, "The only move - otherwise
you are losing slowly."

26...Qg5+ 27.Kh1 d5

"Logical," said Carlsen, " but maybe Black
does not have enough time for this."

"What a terrible, terrible move, so
anti-positional," said Aronian, realising that his king would no longer have a
safe haven.

31.f4! Qxf4 32.Qg4 Qxe5 33.Ra7 Rf5?!

Taken aback with the turn of events and
very short of time, Aronian starts to lose track of the game. "Of course I had
wanted to play 33...Rxf2 but then I lose a piece after 34.Qh3!," said Aronian.

"You can make a draw with 33...Rxf2," said
Carlsen but Aronian disagreed, showing the variation 34.Qg3 Qe2 35.Rxe6! Rxh2+!
36.Qxh2 Qf3+ 37.Rg2 Qd1+ 38.Re1!, avoiding the perpetual. However even here
Black should have enough for a draw.

34.a5! Bh6

Position after 34...Bh6

"I looked at 35...Qd6," said Aronian, " but
then you can play 36.Qxd4 Bh6 37.Qb6!."

"I should be winning here," said Carlsen,
who was kicking himself for not now playing 35.Rxa6. The players analysed for
some time without being convinced whether or not White can claim an advantage.
However it is clear that this is better than the text move, which allows an
immediate draw.